DOING GOOD

A new week & a new task, as 13 - unlucky for some, but not for us! - Derby GoodGymers visited Transition 2 College to help them with their garden maintenance & get our rake onnnn.

Transition 2 do amazing work with young people who have learning difficulties, providing them with bespoke learning programs. We loved their indoor gym too; just like us, that bunch love getting fit! We were delighted to be supporting their work at this weeks good-deed & the tour of the college (not forgetting the jelly babies) made it that bit more special.

Our Mission:

To clear the pathway around the college garden, which also teams as the fire escape route, making the pathway more accessible & thus safer. We are the heroes in red after all.

• Cut back the vegetation

• Clear the pathway of leaves, moss & weeds

The Results

This is probably our greatest 'before & after' work to date - it was hard to tell for certain in the gloom of our headtorches! - but the pathway looked (in Bruce Almighty stylez) B-E-A-UTIFUL once we'd finished. Around the back of the building where low branches had been concealing & blocking the way, we'd hacked & sawed (quite the therapeutic job) until this was clearer too.

After much raking, sweeping & sawing, it was time to grab a group (polaroid?) picture for a job well done!
Rake it, rake it, rake it like a ...

WHILST GETTING FIT

The run of about 6km - I always forget to set my watch, someone please remind me - was perfect for our newbies last night. A huge welcome to Liz, Jenny & Naomi who certainly worked their butts off at their first GoodGym task!

The route, in comparison to some of our others, was relatively flat (with a few slopes hehe), enjoying a steady pace out & back. On the way out, we managed to catch a glimpse of the Knife Angel, illuminated red & on the way back, a visit to our favorite bouncy bridge by the Jurys Inn for a 2nd group snap.

Fitness Achievements:

• 255906 ft ran (total distance)

• 2 huge piles of garden waste collected

• Over 8 hours worth of raking, sweeping & sawing - who needs the gym?!

GO TEAM!

UP NEXT

Disclaimer: Don't be put off by the distance! Next week we're going a little further afield, running a total of 11km to Blagreaves Library for an indoor painting task - yay! All running abilities welcome & there will be opportunities for speed-work too... all the fun with GoodGym!

THANK YOU!

Shout out to Tracey for completing her 5th good deed! And thanks as always to all of you for showing up, getting stuck in, smiling & generally being amazing! The weather will challenge us over the winter months, but let's use it to make us even tougher runners & more importantly, tougher GoodGymers!

Happy exploring x

DOING GOOD

10 Derby GG'ers delivered 250 leaflets across Darley Abbey to let local residents know about a coffee morning being hosted on the 2nd November to raise monies for Kathmandu (Nepal) hospital, specifically for the children's cancer ward. If you're free on Saturday the 2nd November between 10am & 2pm, pop along! There's always delicious cake & fun, Nepali treasures to be bought.

In true Himalaya spirit, we embraced the wind, rain & cold on last nights task proving that us Derby lot are indeed a hardy bunch worthy of Everest! Also, in true leafleting spirit we made our task a friendly-team competition, splitting into a Left & Right team & seeing who could collect the most gold coins by making it to the end of the road first, with all team members & all houses on their side of the street, flyered.

The Right Team Featuring: Salvo, Tracey, Jonny & Kathy

Gold Coins: 5

The Left Team Featuring: Emma, Rachael, Katherine , Helen & Julie

Gold Coins: 5

It's a draw folks!

I think we can agree that BadGym - who wasn't so bad - personally gets an extra coin for determination of delivering every last leaflet! And a BIG thanks to everyone for all of your fabulous efforts & here's to hoping that the fundraiser is a huge success!

WHILST GETTING FIT

And it wasn't an easy run! Also in true Himalaya spirit, there were plenty of hills to test our cardio fitness, including the aptly named Cardiac Hill - thanks for that brilliant insight Kathy!

We ran over 1km out from the Jurys Inn, through Darley Park while the evening was still light (including up Cardiac Hill!) & into the residential area of Darley Abbey. Once there, the hills did not stop. Up & down the huge drive ways, up & down hills & bumps, until all leaflets (or most!) were distributed. We then headed back to the Jurys Inn via Duffield Road where we managed to drop off the last few pesky flyers.

As it was a chilly evening, it was the perfect opportunity to slow things down with a dose of runners' yoga in the conference room at Jurys Inn. Not forgetting our team photos with props & scoffing a couple of boxes of Matchmakers first! We wiggled toes, located our hip flexors (ouchy) & a tree pose each to finish (only for the photo of course.)

What an evening!

The Stats

• TEN tree poses found

• Over FIVE km ran per GG'er (depending on driveway length)

• ONE mean Cardiac Hill tackled with gusto!

SPECIAL MENTIONS

Big welcome back to Julie who first came to GoodGym at Derby's launch. It was great to see you again!

Massive good luck to Katherine at the Leicester Marathon this weekend; we look forward to hearing all about it. You'll smash it!

Finally, well done to Salvo, Rachael& Emma for completing their fifth good deed with Good Gym! Your profile is now embellished with a new badge to show off with pride.

Got something coming up or some exciting news? Tell us about it in the comments!

COMING UP NEXT

Next Tuesday we're running about 5km - accurate measurement this time, promise - to support Transition 2 college. This will be our first time running to this area of Derby & takes us back to garden maintenance, something we're becoming experts at!

Whatsapp group; I've set up a chat so that we can share ideas for socials, ask each other questions about group runs or share any running worries / news you may have. If you'd like to join the group, email me!

Get out there, explore, have fun & ENJOY!

DOING GOOD FOR GG TURNS 10!

18 runners from around the UK (GG Sheffiled's Kat, Andrew, Ash & Celine & GG Norwich's lone ranger, Brad, as well as 13 Derby runners) headed to a green space to support the Friends of Markeaton Park (FoMP) give a new lease of life to the rockery. On arrival, we were greeted by the wonderful volunteers who showed us the somewhat secret walled garden before we made our way, wheel-barrows & gloves in hand, to the rockery. So overgrown with no rocks in sight, some of us wondered where this illusive name had originally came from...

Alas! After 40 minutes of weeding, removing unwanted plants, clearing dead leaves & trimming (not forgetting the shaping!) of the hedge, the rocks were revealed & the rockery transformed from an abandoned, overgrown hidden-rockery for accumulating park litter, to a beautiful feature of Markeaton Park once more.

Mission achievements

1. The equivalent of 12 hours of volunteering (wowza!)
2. 1 extremely happy Friends of Markeaton Park volunteer group
3. 1 rockery restored to its full & former glory
4. 18 heroes in Derby (who's favourite colour is red, especially on t-shirts)
   

WHILST GETTING FIT

The location of Markeaton Park from our base at the Jurys Inn meant that we got opportunity to do a circular route to show our GoodGym tourists a little more of the city. We headed from the Jurys Inn towards the University of Derby on Kedleston Road, then cutting into Markeaton Park, admiring the huge play area (including the climbing wall & pondering a possible fitness session there) before looking for our lady-in-hi-viz near the illusive walled garden.

After our task & because we were at the rockery (this is key to the pun...) there was a Rockery-Balboa themed fitness session with Eye of the Tiger - for those 91% of you that couldn't hear it, that's what was playing on my phone! - blasting across Markeaton Park. With lots of high knees, butt kicks, planking & some air punching... because you have to, its Rock-ery!... We were ready to run back to base. Through the park, down Ashbourne Road, across the Bouncy-Bridge & to the Jurys Inn!

Fitness Achievements

1. Total collective distance of 90km powered by foot
2. Well over 400 high knees during the Eye of the Tiger saga
3. 100 weeds pulled out & biceps worked

GG TURNS 10

It was brilliant to be part of the celebrations flying the GoodGym flag in Derby last night & I think you'll agree we got some pretty snazzy photos on the Bouncy-Bridge! A huge thank you to the Derby tribe as well as the touring GoodGym'ers (especially Andrew for back-marking) for making the evening so splendid. Now one more time...

It's the eye of the tiger, its the thrill of the fight (weeding), rising up to the challenge of our rival (weeds)....

Have a super week everyone & see you next Tuesday for some more gettin' grubby fun & puns at Osmaston Allotments!

Dani x

We've launched!

55 runners (not including our special VIP guests from the council, including Mr. Mayor!) met at the Jurys Inn yesterday to mark the launch of GoodGym's 54th hub & to kick off doing good, whilst getting fit in our wonderful city.

It was brilliant to see so many new faces to GoodGym starting this journey together (we're sure you'll all be hooked from now on!) as well as seasoned GoodGym'ers from other areas supporting the launch; a huge thanks to the GoodGym Sheffield crew & those who travelled from the depths of the south (London!) to celebrate with us yesterday.

Doing Good

Our first task took us through the lovely green space of Darley Park to support the Friends of Darley Open Spaces (FODOS) begin the transformation of the Butterfly Garden into the Wildlife Garden & boy did things get WILD!

From dead-heading buddleias (I only learned what that meant yesterday) to weeding, sweeping, hoeing, digging & admiring the UK's largest collection of Hydrangeas, our tribe of 53 runners made an incredible difference.

To put a number on that difference (we like stats!) the 40 minutes each of us spent last night volunteering, collectively equates to 36.6 hours! Amazing right!? That's 2,200 minutes! I'm sure the fabulous volunteers from FODOS would agree that our first task has made an enormous difference to their garden & to the local community who enjoy that space. These numbers really help to highlight what GoodGym is all about... we might not be volunteering somewhere for very long, but as a large group of runners (come on, we work fast!) we can get a heck of a lot done!

(Pssst... We're back at the Wildlife Garden on the 29th October to support this lovely group again!)

Whilst Getting Fit

More stats, the running kind, the kind we love.... We traveled a total of 4km powered by foot last night, with a running group led by Dani (me) & back-marked by Rachel & a walking group led by Nicky (let's give the task-force a cheer!) as well as a mini fitness session which saw you all finding your glutes with squats & lunges. Plus we can totally include the 40 minutes of hard labour you put in at the garden, especially the diggers & wheel-barrowers!

Radio's back!

TV's overrated, we're going to be on the radio! & Sam from BBC Radio Derby is totally alive FYI. Keep your eyes peeled on GoodGym Derby's social media channels for an announcement of when you can hear your claim to fame on the BBC Derby Radio Breakfast Show. Thanks Sam for joining us & doing double the mileage running & back forth to do interviews!

Ready for task two!?

The launch event is done & dug (hehe), but this is only the beginning!

Every week (on Tuesday, don't turn up on a different day, we won't be there) at 6:15pm we'll meet at the Jurys Inn & run to a task, smash it & run back! Next week we're going a little further afield, running a total of 10km to do a leaflet drop in Mackworth for a community library. This isn't any old leaflet drop; there will be an option on the run out to work on your speed (getting some practice in) because once we hit Mackworth, a friendly teams-based competition will unfold! Don't let the sound of speed-training put you off, all abilities are welcome as always.

10km too much at the moment? Our third task takes us to another beautiful green space, with a total distance of 5km.

The Snaps

Big thanks to Ashley for taking amazing photos on last night's launch. If you haven't yet set a profile photo for your GoodGym account, find yourself in the snaps & use one of these beauties!

THANK YOU!

Finally, a huge cheer to every single one of you for being such a wonderful group last night; for getting stuck in, being super friendly to everyone & generally just a delight to be around. Here's to next week & the start of something beautiful with GoodGym Derby!

Happy running & exploring,

your trainer, Dani x